BARKUL ' 531 



who found in the bazaars all they needed in the way 

 of foodstuffs and clothing. Barkul was little else but a 

 distributing centre for the surrounding district ; occa- 

 sional Mongols came in from the far north, especially 

 from the Mingyn Gobi, — between Barkul and the Altai, 

 and a few Chanto merchants from the great oases of the 

 Tarim basin ; but the ordinary aspect of a town situated 

 on a trade-route, with a moving population — entailing 

 much coming and going, was entirely absent from Barkul. 

 As a town it had little to recommend it, while its inhabi- 

 tants seemed sunk in a state of degeneracy to which it 

 would be hard to find an equal, even in Inner Asia. Its 

 complete seclusion may be responsible for this, even a 

 degraded Chinaman being influenced by popular opinion 

 and publicity. 



Barkul does not even possess a fair reputation in 

 spite of its numerous temples and shrines, of which 

 there are said to be from eighty to a hundred. Its bad 

 reputation has probably been the cause for its having 

 been avoided by many travellers, this being a significant 

 fact in connexion with a region where towns and bazaars 

 are rare. Atkinson, when wandering with the Kirei 

 Kirghiz, was the first traveller to approach Barkul ; he 

 actually arrived within sight of the town and then turned 

 back into the desert. The Russian trading expedition 

 of 1872 was refused admittance, the Chinese Mandarins 

 saying that Barkul belonged to the province of Kansu, 

 whereas Mongolia alone was opened to Russian traders. 

 Potanin and his followers in 1876 camped within sight 

 of the town, but did not enter it. He sent men to 

 procure provisions, but even his envoy was not received 

 in a friendly manner. Prjevalsky, the next traveller, 

 passed close by without actually visiting the town. 



